Strapping machines are often used in combination with a stacking machine which forms a stack of articles, usually paper, in a uniform stack which is compressed and then securely bundled with a strap. Generally, stacking machines feed the articles to be stacked to a rack movably disposed along an inclined surface where the articles accumulate to form the uniform stack. After the stack reaches a specified height, the stack is compressed and positioned on a conveyor below the rack, all the while maintained on the inclined surface. A strapping machine, positioned on a track of the stacking machine, has a chute disposed around the conveyor of the stacking machine, wherein the strap is fed through the chute and then tensioned and secured about the stack of articles. Stacking machines are well known, and the marketplace teems with competitors each having machines with distinct parameters which must be accommodated by the strapping machine for compatible use therewith. For example, the inclined surface along which the stack is formed varies from one stacking machine to another over an angular range between approximately 5 and 35 degrees measured from a vertical reference. The conveyors also have different heights above ground level. In order for a strapping machine to be compatible for use with a stacking machine, the chute of the strapping machine must be oriented at the same angle as the inclined surface of the stacking machine, and must be positioned at a correspondingly appropriate height above ground level. Further, the track of the stacking machine, which permits the strapping machine to be moved in and out of its operating position for servicing, varies in width or gauge from one stacking machine to the next. Still further, stacking machines of a given manufacturer have parameters that vary within a specified tolerance range, and these variable parameters often require that compensating fine adjustments be made when assembling a prior art strapping machine with a stacking machine. Therefore, in the past, each strapping machine has been uniquely manufactured for compatibility with the parameters of the specific type stacking machine with which it will be used.
In view of the discussion above, there exists a demonstrated need for an advancement in the art of strapping machines, and in particular for a novel strapping machine that may be adjusted in the field to satisfy the parameters of any one of several different types of stacking machines.